Platforming in Star Wars: The Old Republic is hard due to the imprecise control that the player has over the character using the keyboard. I remember there being one platforming segment in Nar Shadda where I had to jump on balloons and have perfect landing jumps for me to reach my end destination. The entire journey is a major hassle where the platforming isn’t really up to your skill and how well you can control your character but how well the game picks up on your keyboard inputs, assuming it does so properly. To add to the frustration, the times you can do it are limited since the balloon only comes after a certain while meaning if you miss the first time, you have to wait over 15 minutes until you can do it again. It’s extremely frustrating and aggravating.
This isn’t the only instance of perfect platforming required in Star Wars: The Old Republic. There are specific locations in the main Republic and Empire hub where you can access Holocrons by platforming. Once again, the imprecision haunts this game. However, unlike the horrible jumping that’s required, the unresponsiveness of the game in combination with terrible controls force the player into an undesirable corner. The player must both battle the game itself and their keyboard. I remember when I was constantly tapping my keyboard lightly so I’ll move bits and pieces at a time. The experience test my patience to say the least. I questioned myself, “Why did the developer put such a frustrating gameplay segment in the game when the entire process is unresponsive, annoying, and frustrating?” To this day I still ask this question.
While platforming in Guild Wars 2 isn’t as frustrating as The Old Republic, it is still an experience that can be tedious and annoying at times. Unlike The Old Republic though, the controls are much more responsive and act almost instantaneously giving player better control. However, the problems that come with using a keyboard still exist. In Guild Wars 2 there are areas called Vistas that you can discover and access. As the name implies, these places have a spectacular view of the world and often times are in high locations. In order to reach them you must navigate the various terrain that stands in your way.
In the Grove is one vista that requires you to jump on top of various mushrooms of miniscule size to reach the top of a building. Mind you, these are extremely small. So much so that if you don’t land perfectly on the mushroom, you’d fall. However, the problem is that it’s hard to predict how far you’ll end up jumping and how far you need to actually jump. Gauging these things in addition to controlling your character mid-air so they land perfectly on the mushroom for more than five times can quickly break you if you’re not patient.
I’m not saying that all platforming in MMOs is bad. In fact, I’m sure there is an exception out there somewhere just to prove me wrong. However, from the MMOs I’ve played and the ones that are the most famous, platforming isn’t the game’s strongest feature. In fact, I’d say it’s a detriment to the game since it breaks up the pace of the game in the most frustrating and aggravating way possible. If something doesn’t work properly, developer shouldn’t put it in the game. In this case, I think it’d be best if developers don’t tackle it at all if it’s not appealing or is consistent with the game.
I’ve been aware of platforming in MMOs for a while but it came to my attention a few months ago how annoying it really is. It all started out as a simple discussion among gaming peers on twitter where we complained about the platforming aspect of Guild Wars 2. However, our discussion wasn’t just limited to this game as we realized that other MMOs do this as well such as The Secret World and Star Wars: The Old Republic. This week on nitpick I want to discuss and rant a bit about platforming in MMOs, specifically Star Wars: The Old Republic and Guild Wars 2.
Movement in PC gaming has always been inferior compared to their console counterparts. The varying flexibility that a controller offers compared to the static movement due to keyboards has been the main issue for this main difference. With a control stick you are able to precisely control the speed of your movements, how you move and and how you control the camera. This is absolutely not possible with a keyboard. There is only one speed of movement on a keyboard and in order to do precise movement you’d have to taps on the keyboard making the entire process frustrating. The console and PC mediums will always have this major difference and as a result, anything related to precision-based movement becomes an absolute hassle.
Enter the two MMOs that have precision-based movements: The Old Republic and Guild Wars 2. While none of these games force the player to do anything precise with their movements, they offer gameplay elements and have certain optional tasks that reward them for doing so. Platforming is a type of movement that requires accuracy and precision. This means the player has to have complete and total control of the character that he or she is using. Platforming on PC gaming becomes a pain in the butt as a result.
Let’s take Star Wars: The Old Republic for the first example. There are numerous locations where the player must use perfect navigation and platforming skills to reach their end destination. At the end is usually a Holocron which gives the player a permanent stat boost. As a result, these rewards are extremely enticing and everyone wants to get them. Now, if the difficulty of the platforming is challenging and hard because the reward is so good then this is great gameplay design. After all, you should be rewarded for finishing something that is hard. The problem is that the actual platforming isn’t hard. In fact, if you were using a controller the platforming would be extremely easy. However, there lies the innate problem. It’s not that the level design is challenging or obstacles making the entire the process hard.
